Complicated Wishes, Confusing Jealousy
by Kay Elle Hunter
Summary: Hermione wishes to be kissed before she turns sixteen. Hormones are raging, with Ron still as jealous as ever, Harry beginning to notice Ginny in a new light. That mixed with an odd DADA teacher makes an eventful story. Writing began PreHBP
1. To Hogwarts with a Wish

_**Disclaimer: **I OWN NOTHING PEOPLE! NOTHING AT ALL!_

**Chapter One: To Hogwarts with a Wish**

A full roll of parchment: It seemed a little bit _too_ much to be writing in a letter to someone you had written merely some two weeks earlier, but Hermione Granger honestly didn't care as she sat in the comfort of The Burrow's lounge. Viktor Krum was really the only person she was confident in expressing her want, her wish, to. She would normally tell her female best friend, Ginny Weasley, things like this, but now … she just couldn't. She rather _envied_ Ginny Weasley at the present moment.

For nearly six months, Hermione had wanted a boyfriend. The only boyfriend she'd ever had, had been Viktor, back in her fourth year (she was now due to start her sixth) at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and even _that_ hadn't been a true "relationship". If it were, it had been awfully pitiful. The simple fact remained; she was approaching her sixteenth birthday and she had still not been _truly_ kissed. It was this that caused Hermione to feel jealousy towards Ginny. Ginny was a whole year younger, had been in a good, steady relationship, been kissed and now had a caring boyfriend. Hermione wanted that.

Looking over the piece of parchment in front of her, Hermione let out a deep sigh as she noticed Ginny sitting there, deep in conversation with Dean Thomas, her boyfriend, who had come to visit her at the Burrow. Nearby, Hermione's best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley sat discussing the vacant Defence Against the Dark Arts post at Hogwarts. At the sight of Harry, Hermione remembered the tiny relationship he had with Cho Chang the previous year. Harry was another one of her friends who had been kissed.

She sighed heavily. For all she knew, Ron had probably been kissed as well. It seemed as though everyone but her knew what it felt like to have someone else's lips on their own; kissing with a passion Hermione could only imagine.

She absently turned her attention to Ron, who was now polishing his broomstick while keeping up his conversation with Harry. Hermione liked Ron a lot, and ever since their fourth year at Hogwarts, she had thought that perhaps Ron liked her as something a little more than just a best friend, but she had never been entirely sure. She remembered how he had acted in their fourth year, when she had turned up at the Yule Ball with Viktor. His jealousy had been quite clear to her (and most of the room), but she often wondered whether _he_ was actually aware of it. She vaguely remembered how he had shown signs of attraction towards Fleur Delacour that year, but she had always inwardly insisted that that had merely been because Fleur had Veela blood in her.

Hermione sighed softly as this thought circled her mind several times, an empty feeling in her chest. She had been jealous of Fleur.

Looking back down at her letter to Viktor, she re-read it carefully. Satisfied with what she'd written, she rolled it up, stood up and approached Harry.

"Harry?" she said, getting both his and Ron's attention immediately. "Can I borrow Hedwig to send this letter to Viktor?"

"Krum?" Ron said quickly, looking up at her in disbelief. "You wrote him a week ago!"

"It was actually _two_ weeks ago, Ron," Hermione corrected him briskly. "And what concern is it of yours if I want to write him again so soon?" Ron hadn't overcome his jealousy.

Ron was about to retort when Harry interjected. "Of course you can use Hedwig, Hermione," he said with a smile.

Hermione smiled back. "Thanks," she said and left to send the letter.

Ron watched her leave with a disgruntled expression on his freckled face. "What the _hell_ has she done in the past two weeks to fill a full roll of parchment with writing to Viktor Krum?" he asked rhetorically to no one in particular. He looked at Harry, who just shrugged. "What does she even see in Krum, anyway?"

Harry, who was getting quite used to Ron asking this question, didn't answer. He knew Ron was jealous, but he was beginning to wonder whether Ron in fact held stronger feelings towards Hermione than he was letting on.

**-**

Hermione examined herself in the mirror as she stood in the bathroom, pinning her prefect badge to the front of her shirt. Tonight she would return home, to Hogwarts, and she could hardly wait. Just the idea of stepping through the grand, oak front doors into the cavernous Entrance Hall of the magnificent castle of Hogwarts caused a thrill of excitement to surge through her body.

She exited the bathroom with a smile on her face and descended the staircase into the noisy kitchen, where everyone was already eating breakfast. The Weasleys and Harry all greeted her cheerfully as she took a seat at the table between Ron and Ginny. Mrs Weasley hurried over and immediately started piling toast, eggs and bacon onto the plate in front of her.

"There you are, Hermione dear," she said, giving her the last piece of bacon. "Eat as much as you can."

Hermione obeyed and began to cut her bacon, ignoring Ron beside her, who was glancing sideways at her every three seconds. "Has Hedwig come back with a reply from Viktor, yet?" she asked the table of people.

"No," Harry replied through a mouthful of toast, while Ron muttered something to himself. Harry swallowed. "She'll know where we are, though."

Hermione nodded. Yes, of course Hedwig would know. She was a very clever owl, but Hermione just wished she would hurry back with a reply.

After they'd finished breakfast, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny went through the usual September first rush of making sure they had everything. When all was ready, Mr and Mrs Weasley helped them place the four trunks into a car Mr Weasley had managed to organise with the Ministry of Magic in order to see them safely to Kings Cross Station.

"Hurry along, now," Mrs Weasley said lovingly to Ron, who was trying to keep his tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, from making too much noise. "We'll see you at the platform when you arrive. Your father and I are Apparating. It's so much easier and we can trust that Kingsley will keep close eye on you all until you're safely on the train."

Hermione frowned at this as she climbed into the backseat next to Ginny, but understood Mrs Weasley perfectly as she looked at the driver. Sure enough, it was Kingsley Shacklebolt escorting them to Kings Cross. It would be dangerous to not have at least one member of the Order of the Phoenix at close guard.

The ride to the station was highly enjoyable for the four of them. They spent some time chatting to Kingsley about the Order before devolving into a happy conversation about the year ahead.

When they finally arrived in the crowded street outside the station, they hurried along through crowds of people with their trunks on trolleys in front of them. They had plenty of time to spare when they reached the barrier between platforms nine and ten – the secret entrance to platform nine and three quarters.

Looking around cautiously, they made sure no Muggles were around or paying them any attention before the four of them casually approached the barrier after bidding goodbye to Kingsley. Harry and Ron went through first, followed quickly by Hermione and Ginny, each of whom re-appeared on the other side of the not-so-solid wall.

Each of them suppressed a smile as they looked up at the gleaming scarlet steam engine and around at the crowded platform, filled with people, cats and owls. They slowly wheeled their way through the clutter of people and made their way up the train, looking for an empty compartment. When they had found one, Ron and Hermione were forced to say goodbye as they had to go back up the front to the prefects' carriage, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

The two of them were silent for several minutes, as they each gazed out the window looking for some sign of Mr and Mrs Weasley, who had yet to appear on the platform.

Harry turned his head slowly to look at Ginny easier as she continued to look out the window, watching as students boarded the train and hung out of the windows to talk to their families.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Harry shifted slightly and said, "You and Dean seem to be going well."

She turned to look at him and sighed. "Yes, we are going well … I guess," she said, a small smile coming to her lips. "We haven't been going out long, though. I was really surprised when he wrote saying he wanted to visit." Her smile faded slightly before adding anything more, her tone becoming rather spiteful. "Ron doesn't seem to like the idea of Dean and I being together," she said. "I thought he might, as Dean's a friend of his and yours."

"Ron's just being overprotective of you," Harry said, feeling it was the truth. "You're his little sister and he doesn't want you getting hurt."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Sometimes I get the suspicion that he wants me to still fancy you, or have a relationship stronger than friendship with _you_." Her face had turned suddenly red, disguising the many freckles that decorated it. She looked away quickly, shuffling uncomfortably in her seat.

Harry, however, merely frowned slightly at what she had said. He had never really thought of the fact that perhaps Ron wanted him to go out with Ginny. He had never really seen any signs or reasons to, but now Ginny had mentioned it…

Harry frowned deeper. It didn't seem much like Ron to want his sister to date his best friend. Then again, Harry wasn't sure as to what Ron wanted for Ginny. He didn't talk about her much unless he was complaining about her being annoying. And what did it matter, anyway? Harry would never even think of going out with Ginny. She was Ron's little sister for heaven's sake!

Harry gazed at Ginny, studying her face as she continued to look out the window. He noticed a tiny scar above her left eye, which was shaped like a crescent moon. He vaguely remembered her telling him that it was a souvenir from falling off her broom in a rough windstorm.

He absently ran a finger over his own, immensely special, lightning-bolt-shaped scar and straightened his round-framed glasses. In the past four years or so, had Ron always wanted him to go out with Ginny? Was that why Ron had reacted so badly to the news about Ginny moving on and going out with Michael Corner? Was that why he didn't like the idea of her dating Dean?

Suddenly, he was brought back to his senses as Ginny gracefully stood up.

"Mum and Dad have arrived to say goodbye," she announced happily, looking down at him with an expression of great delight and enthusiasm.

**-**

The trip to Hogwarts always felt long, but this year, it felt even longer. Harry and Ginny didn't talk much throughout the journey, mainly because at about noon, Dean, along with their fellow Gryffindors, Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan, interrupted. Dean left quickly, hand-in-hand with Ginny, leaving Harry with Neville and Seamus, who both seemed deeply interested in discussing the upcoming Quidditch season. Harry only half-listened, as his thoughts were still on Ginny and what was keeping Ron and Hermione.

"Dean was telling me earlier that Ginny might be trying out for a Chaser position," Seamus said, looking from Neville to Harry with great enthusiasm.

Harry looked up and nodded. "I remember her mentioning something like that last year," he said vaguely.

Seamus nodded. "I reckon she's got a good chance in getting in," he said. "She's a good flier."

Harry absently nodded. Ginny was a good flier. His thoughts travelled back to one of the practice matches they had had at The Burrow on one of Fred and George's days off. He had been highly impressed by the way she moved so easily and well.

"Who else do you think will go for the other Chaser position?" Neville asked Harry and Seamus, who both shrugged.

As much as he loved Quidditch, Harry wasn't enjoying this conversation much. Standing up, he made sure that Seamus and Neville were fully engrossed in talk about third-year Lara Sursok's chances on becoming a Chaser for the Gryffindor team before exiting the compartment and sliding the door shut behind him.

He made his way up the train, wanting to find Ron and Hermione. Glancing into every compartment he came across, Harry stopped every now and then to say hello to people. He had a small conversation with Terry Boot, a member of the DA. Terry sat in a rather crowded compartment with fellow members Michael Corner (Ginny's ex-boyfriend), Cho Chang (Michael's new girlfriend and Harry's unmissed ex), and Anthony Goldstein.

After about half an hour of greeting people, Harry made his way further up train, looking for some sign of Ron and Hermione. It wasn't until he neared the very front of the long train that he finally caught a glimpse of Ron's red hair sticking out of an open compartment and headed forwards to see what was going on.

"Apologise to Hermione, Malfoy!" Ron was saying heatedly as Harry reached the compartment. Looking in, he saw one of his worst enemies, Draco Malfoy, sitting there lazily, a sneer on his pale, pointed face as he glared up at Ron through his steel grey eyes. His boulder-sized cronies Crabbe and Goyle were sitting on either side of him, obviously getting ready for a battle on Malfoy's command. Pug-faced Pansy Parkinson also sat in the compartment, an ugly smirk curving her over-glossed lips.

"Ron," Hermione said calmly from the other side of him. "Don't worry about it. He hasn't got a heart to apologise so it's no good getting into trouble trying to make him. Let's just move along and leave him to his evil-doing."

"Evil-doing, is it, Granger?" Malfoy drawled with a sneer, standing up. Hermione ignored him, pulled Ron forcibly from the compartment and slid the door shut in Malfoy's face.

Out in the corridor, Ron exploded. "What'd you do that for? I had him! Hermione, he was being a complete prat and –"

"And he would have had Crabbe and Goyle flatten you if given half the chance!" Hermione cut in. "When are you going to learn! You're a _prefect_! You can't just go around picking fights with Malfoy, Ron!"

"I didn't start that!" Ron defended. "He did! You heard him! He called you that – that – that _name_! He deserved whatever –"

"Ron, listen to Hermione," Harry said. "The only thing you would have accomplished in there would have been letting Malfoy get the rise of you."

Ron looked at him, somewhat surprised to see him. "Harry. I didn't see you there."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Obviously, what with all the righteous indignation you had going on." He tried not to let it get to him that Ron hadn't even noticed that he'd been there. It was quite difficult, though, but with one look at the girl Ron had been causing such a raucous over, Harry had a good idea as to why he was not missed.

Harry looked at Hermione, and she and Harry both grabbed an arm and forced Ron down the narrow hallway, away from Malfoy and his fellow Slytherins.

The windows in the train were beginning to grow dark at about five o'clock. The lanterns within the train had been lit and they were still heading steadily north and closer to their destination. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the compartment with Neville and Seamus, who had moved on from Quidditch to discussing who may be their new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

"I feel it's highly ridiculous," Hermione expressed truthfully. "I mean, what's the possibility that _this_ teacher's going to last the whole year?"

"About one in a million," Harry said with a small sigh. "I'm beginning to believe that the job truly is jinxed."

"Yeah, well, let's just hope we don't get a teacher like Umbridge," Ron stated darkly. "She was a complete and utter _nightmare_!"

"I doubt Dumbledore would _allow_ another teacher like _that_ to teach at Hogwarts while he's Headmaster, Ron," Hermione said.

"Especially now that people are actually willing to believe and listen to him. I agree, though; he won't let another Ministry member take over the school," said Harry, shuddering as he remembered exactly how terrible Professor Dolores Umbridge had been.

"Wish Lupin would come back," Seamus said. Harry smiled at the mention of his werewolf friend as he nodded with the rest.

Thinking about Remus Lupin was bittersweet; he genuinely liked the former professor, but memories of Lupin invariably brought him back to Sirius. Forcibly removing that train of thought from his head, Harry was brought back into the conversation when Hermione spoke again.

"Maybe Snape will finally get his wish," she said thoughtfully as the train began to slow. "He wants the position – Dumbledore knows he does – and it would have to be easier to find a Potions teacher."

The others didn't even want to see this as a possibility and chose not to say anything in response to such a dreadful idea.

The train slowed right to a halt and they heard the familiar sounds of people exiting their compartments, getting ready to step off the train onto the tiny platform of Hogsmeade Station. The five of them met Dean and Ginny in the hallway outside their compartment and together, they got off the Hogwarts Express and began to make their way towards the Thestral-drawn carriages and the magnificent castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

**-**

**A/N:** Big thanks to Sarah, Helen and Jen for beta-reading this chapter!

I hope you enjoyed and PLEASE REVIEW!


	2. The Feast and Familiar Face

**Chapter Two: The Feast and Familiar Face**

The stars spotting the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall twinkled down on Harry, Ron and Hermione merrily as they entered behind Dean, Ginny and the others. They made their way passed the four long house tables and took seats at the Gryffindor table, decked with its usual gold plates and goblets for the Welcoming Feast.

All around them, their housemates and friends were chatting excitedly about the summer's events, discussing the year ahead or otherwise the deadly silence of You-Know-Who (Lord Voldemort). Hermione sat amongst it all, without, for the first time in over a month, a care in her mind. She was glad to be back at Hogwarts, where classes, studying and prefect duties could occupy her mind rather than Ron and her hormonal want to be kissed.

Letting out an inner sigh, she turned her gaze to the High table and scanned across it with her eyes, only to have them land on an unfamiliar man, who sat beside tiny Professor Flitwick, and was gazing down at the hundreds of students that filled the Hall. His dark hair and skin glowed slightly with the light protruding from the floating candles close by, distinguishing the surly expression that masked his lined face. Even at a distance, Hermione could tell he had a large hooked nose that caused a small, unusual jolt within the region of her stomach. As unrecognisable as the man was to her, he appeared somewhat familiar.

"Who's the grumpy-looking git next to Flitwick?" Ron's voice asked beside Hermione, causing her to pull her gaze away from the man.

"New Defence the Dark Arts teacher?" Harry guessed with a shrug. "He definitely looks grumpy, doesn't he? You'd think he'd be happy to be here at Hogwarts if he took the job."

"He looks foreign," Hermione said knowledgeably, turning her attention back to the man. "Perhaps he's tired from a long journey."

"Yeah, well, let's hope he's better than that Umbridge," Ron said, looking up at the man with doubt. "He doesn't look like a cheery bloke at all, does he, though?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You can't judge a new person straight away, you know, Ron. He could end up being one of your favourite teachers once we've had a class with him. For all you know, he could be just as good a teacher as Professor Lupin was."

"Somehow I doubt it, Hermione," Ron responded. "I mean, look at him! I doubt I've ever seen a person smile less, and _I've_ been sitting next to Harry in Potions!"

Harry smirked at Ron's joke and silently agreed with him; next to the new teacher, Snape looked radiant.

Hermione was about to retort when the doors of the Hall swung open and Professor McGonagall, a stern-looking woman with her black hair tied back in an extremely tight bun, entered; a long line of petrified first-years followed nervously behind her. Harry, Ron and Hermione watched as they made their way between the four long house tables and assembled in a long line in front of the teachers table, facing the hundreds of other students as they looked around anxiously.

McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of them and added the ragged old Sorting Hat to rest on top of it. A short silence followed until a tear near the rim of the worn hat opened up wide like a mouth and it broke into song.

_Over a thousand years ago,_

_My destiny was shown._

_For Hogwarts school divided,_

_Each Founder to their own._

_The four greatest wizards of the time_

_Proposed a great idea,_

_To teach the world more sortilege _

_Thus Hogwarts School is here!_

_"But who," they asked "would get the chance_

_to have the final say?"_

_For each had different expectances _

_And favoured their own way._

_For Gryffindor, though good in thought,_

_Wanted all the brave,_

_But courage breeds pomposity,_

_For Slytherin to save._

_Great Salazar knew who he needs,_

_The blood of magic lines,_

_Cunning and power in all his house,_

_Care nothing for their minds._

_Rowena wanted those of thought,_

_Intelligence to learn,_

_So Ravenclaw chose the wise,_

_Each waiting for their turn._

_Sweet Helga hated the groups distant,_

_And in her house resides,_

_Those who care for everyone,_

_And have all traits besides. _

_So who was to choose between the houses,_

_When they no longer sat?_

_Why me of course, was there a doubt?_

_The Hogwarts Sorting Hat._

_I know your thoughts and deepest wish,_

_Try me on and see,_

_Sit upon the stool of mine,_

_And discover where you'll be!_

The Great Hall broke into applause as the Sorting Hat finished its last word and gave a small and extremely odd-looking bow before returning to its still self. Professor McGonagall had stepped forward again holding a long scroll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you are to step forward and place the Hat on your head and sit on the stool," she said to the first-years, who now, if possible, looked even more frightened than before the Sorting Hat had sung its song. "Aura, Alyson."

A small girl with rosy cheeks and long, golden-brown hair stepped forward, placed the Hat on her head and sat down on the stool.

"RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat shouted as it came to its decision. The Ravenclaw table, to the right of the Gryffindor one, broke into applause and Alyson ran off to join them.

Harry turned to Hermione as "Boot, Mark" was called up to the Sorting Hat.

"Is it just me or does the new teacher look familiar?" he asked in an undertone, casting a small glance back up to the man sitting next to Flitwick, whose expression had somewhat relaxed; he was now watching the Sorting with everyone else. Hermione felt a small pang inside her. So Harry thought he looked familiar as well, did he?

Looking up at the man as well, Hermione nodded slightly. "Who do you think he is?" she asked. "He is quite familiar, but I can't remember where I might have seen him or anything. You don't think he's one of the Death Eaters who attacked us in the Department of Mysteries, do you?"

Harry's eyes went suddenly hard and he quickly looked up at the new professor again, who was now watching as "Espig, Karalee" got Sorted. He stared at him for a few minutes before turning back to Hermione. "No," he replied eventually. "I would've remembered if he were."

Hermione nodded uncertainly and looked around at Ron, who was grumbling to Seamus about being hungry. She had a distinct feeling that Ron didn't find the man familiar at all, but she really wished she knew who the man was…

There were only three people left to be Sorted: A pretty young girl with dirty-blonde hair, a boy with dark brown hair, and a tiny, funny-looking boy with slightly dark skin and red hair. Hermione could feel Ron shaking with silent laughing beside her as the boy, "Wellby, Bradley" stepped forward to try on the Hat.

_Typical_, Hermione thought, casting a sideways glance at him, as the Hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the boy skipped off to join the cheering table. And, by the time "Zeyrek, Hasan", the final first-year, had taken a seat at their table, Ron's giggles about Bradley's appearance still hadn't subsided.

The noise in the Hall slowly became silent again, as McGonagall carted the stool and Hat away. Professor Dumbledore was situated in the centre of the High table and he stood up and beamed around at the students, his silver hair and beard shining in the light and his blue eyes twinkling merrily behind his half-moon glasses.

"Tuck in!" he said simply and brightly, before sitting back down in his high-backed chair.

Instantly the golden dishes and platters that laid the long tables filled with foods of all sorts, from lamb chops to vegetable salads. Ron gave a happy sigh of relief and sprung to grab the nearest dish as quickly as he possibly could and piled his plate with several marinated chicken pieces. Harry and Hermione shared a tiny, amused glance before grabbing a dish themselves.

Across the table, Seamus, Dean, Neville and Ginny were talking about the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's nationality.

"He looks German to me," Seamus said thickly, ripping a chunk of meat off his chicken leg.

"Nuh," Dean said, shaking his head. "My cousin's engaged to a German bloke and he doesn't look anything like that."

"My guess is Bulgarian," Ginny said with a small shrug. Hermione looked up at her abruptly. "Remember all the Durmstrang students that came here for the Triwizard Tournament? They looked similar to this man. The colour of the skin, the hair…"

"Nuh," Dean said again as he grabbed a chicken leg from the platter in front of them. "Somehow I don't think he is. Maybe he's an Afghan…"

As the others all shook their heads, Hermione looked back down at her plate and the small amount of tossed salad she had spooned onto it. _Bulgarian_. She hadn't even thought of it until she heard Ginny suggest it. She had met quite a few Bulgarian people back in her fourth year and most of them had been similar in the way they'd looked. Perhaps that was why the man was so familiar to her… But then, he was also somewhat familiar to Harry…

Next to her, Ron suddenly started coughing and, startled, Hermione looked around at him to see him hurriedly pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. Frowning at him as he raised the glass to his lips, his freckled cheeks extremely red, she wondered what had caused him such a coughing fit. He answered the question for her, though.

"Nearly – choked – on – my – chicken!" he said, taking small gasps of breath between words.

"Yes, well, at the speed you're eating, it must be hard to avoid," Hermione said, glancing down at his already half-eaten plate of food, still holding twice the amount of everyone else's sitting in their vicinity. "I really wish I knew how you stay so skinny, Ron, when you eat banquets like that. Are you expecting to fit dessert in on top of all that chicken, chops and salad?"

Ron gave her a small lop-sided smile. "It goes right through me," he said, turning back to his plate and picking up a marinated chicken wing. "I grow taller rather than fatter."

"Yes and if you grow any taller, I swear you'll be going for the world record for tallest male of your age," Hermione said in a casual tone, causing many people around them to laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked, his ears going slightly red, as he absently continued to eat his chicken wing.

"I'm merely saying that you're very tall for our age, Ron," Hermione replied with a shrug. "I honestly think that in the three weeks I didn't see you over the summer, you grew five inches in height. Not that that's a bad thing or anything," Hermione added. "I haven't got anything against the fact that you're tall." She gave Ron a small smile as he frowned.

There was a moment of silence among Harry, Ron and Hermione as they listened to the others as they continued their rant about what the new professor's nationality might be – with Seamus now suggesting he was Arabian.

Suddenly, a rather small boy with straw-coloured hair and the name Colin Creevey took a seat next to Harry.

"Hiya, Harry!" he said over-brightly, flashing a toothy smile at Ron and Hermione.

"Hi Colin," Harry said unenthusiastically in response. "How was your summer?"

"It was brilliant!" Colin stated. "Dennis and I went fishing down by the lake near where I live and I caught a whole heap of carp! And guess what, Harry? I got prefect!"

"Congratulations," Harry said, just as unenthusiastically as before.

"Hey, Colin!" Dennis, Colin's younger brother, called down the table towards them. "Ian has a joke he wants to tell you!"

Colin bade them goodbye and hurried back to his seat.

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione. "Who's the other new prefect?" he asked, looking sideways at Colin slightly.

Ron gave a grim look. "One of Ginny's friends, Marcia Marmalade," he replied. "I honestly don't see how either of them got the job. They're both hyperactive idiots!"

"Ron, how many times do I have to tell you?" Hermione asked indignantly. "You're a _prefect_ and I'm not the only one that expects you to set a good example towards younger students! They are also prefects and we have to accept the fact that they are a little different than us and teach and supervise them properly! I don't think they'd exactly appreciate being called _idiots_ by someone who they look up to, either!"

"Alright, alright, keep your knickers on, Hermione," Ron said, suddenly realising that the main meal dishes had disappeared and been replaced by various puddings. He hurriedly dived to grab the chocolate and honeycomb trifle sitting nearby.

Hermione sighed heavily and shook her head. _Typical_.

Once well fed and watered, the dishes once again cleared themselves and the Hall filled with silence once more. Slowly, Dumbledore stood, his arms drawn wide again.

"Welcome," he announced, beaming around at them all, "to another magical year at Hogwarts! I expect that you are all well fed and growing tired, but before you can trot off to bed, I have a few announcements I would like to make.

"Firstly, I would like all first-years to please note that the forest at the edge of the grounds is strictly forbidden to all. Second, may I introduce you all to our new member of staff and Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Jaroslav Krum –"

"Krum?" Ron and Hermione each repeated at the same time, looking at the new professor abruptly, their expressions shocked and stunned.

"– Professor Krum has come to Hogwarts all the way from Bulgaria and we hope his stay here is enjoyable. Many of you may be familiar with his son, Viktor, who was a participant in the Triwizard Tournament when it ran here two years ago, and is also the Seeker for the Bulgarian Quidditch Team!"

A large applause rang throughout the Hall, causing Professor Krum to smile ever so slightly. Beside a shocked Hermione, Ron was cursing him quietly.

"Our caretaker, Mr Filch would also like me to inform you all that Skiving Snackboxes" – Several students snorted –"and Snapping Skipping Ropes have been added to the list of forbidden objects in the castle. The full list can be viewed on Mr Filch's office door. And, finally, Quidditch try-outs will be held in the second week of term!

"Now, off to bed you skip!" Dumbledore finished cheerfully.

Hermione was in a state of shock. Viktor Krum's father was at Hogwarts? Viktor Krum's father was going to be teaching them?

She only vaguely knew what she was doing as she stood up and began helping the new prefects, Colin and Marcia Marmalade, collect all the first-years so they could lead them up to Gryffindor Tower, hardly even noticing Ron nearby, who was merely watching her organise them.

"No, Colin, that boy's in Ravenclaw," Hermione said. "Only gather up the _Gryffindor_ first-years." She turned to see Ron just standing there and sighed. "Ron, can you please help me here? Colin and Marcia are having awful trouble."

Ron reluctantly came forward and helped form the first-years into two lines, before Colin and Marcia clumsily started leading them out of the Hall. Hermione turned to Ron.

"Where's Harry?" she asked, looking around. "Has he already gone up?"

"No," Ron replied, shaking his head, "he's over at the teachers' table talking to Hagrid. No doubt having a sweet conversation about one of Grawp's new adventures…"

"Yes, well let's just hope that one of those new adventures doesn't include him killing anyone or thing," Hermione said darkly with a tiny shake of her head.

"No, but it does include him starting to read," Harry said grimly from behind her. "His favourite story's _Cinderella_ apparently."

Hermione turned around to look at him. "But – but he can hardly speak a word of English let alone read one," she said, a frown printed on her face. "Hagrid hasn't been putting Intelligible Charms on Grawp, has he, because they can go extremely wrong if not used correctly."

"No, Hagrid's been trying to teach him," Harry said with a shrug. "And his English is quickly getting better from what Hagrid said. He can say nearly a whole sentence before breaking out in Giant language again."

Beside Hermione, Ron gave a great yawn. "Can we quit talking about Grawp and head up to bed? I could almost fall asleep on the spot," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"Eating and sleeping. That's all he ever does," Hermione muttered under her breath, heard by only Harry, who turned to look at her strangely, although an amused smile had surfaced on his lips.

They exited the Great Hall behind a bunch of Hufflepuffs, who were talking about Professor Krum; they headed up the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall towards Gryffindor Tower.

"I can't believe that Viktor never told me," Hermione said with a frown. "All those letters he sent me over the summer. Not once did he mention anything about his father getting the job of our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher or even applying for it. Though, I admit, he doesn't speak of his father often. He doesn't go into his family life. Most of his letters are talking about some recent Quidditch game, or how much he hates his team captain, and how much he mi–" She stopped talking abruptly and cast a tiny glance at Ron out of the corner of her eye.

"How much Vicky _what_, Hermione?" Ron asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as suspicion crept up on him.

"Oh – er – never mind," Hermione said quickly. "And don't call him Vicky!"

Ron ignored her comment. "What does Vicky say in all those precious letters he sends you? Does he tell you how much he loves you? How much he can't wait to see you again? How much he wants to get you in the sa–?"

"Stop right there, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione said, going slightly pink in the cheeks and stopping in her tracks as they reached the second floor landing and glaring at him. "If you have to know, he merely says how much he misses me. That is nothing compared to what you're accusing. Viktor and I are definitely _not_ having some long-distant love affair and we never will be!" She looked at Harry for a bit of support, but he just stood there, used to the constant arguing and bickering between his two best friends and knowing better than to take sides or interfere. As Hermione continued, her voice was that of forced calmness. "Viktor and I are no more than friends, pen-pals if you rather, and it has never been, and never will be, anything more than that – especially on my part." She finished as though that put an end to their dispute and started heading towards the next set of stairs.

"He definitely sees it as something more than that, Hermione," Ron said and Harry gave a great sigh and headed off ahead of them, not wanting to hear anything more of their most common rivalry.

"I honestly don't know what your problem with Viktor is, Ron," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes. "Ever since I went to the Yule Ball with him in fourth year, you've had nothing more than heartless insults and accusations to say about him and it is really starting to annoy me. You used to speak nothing but good about Viktor as though he was some sort of hero or something. What ever happened, Ron? What suddenly caused you to hold this grudge against him?"

Ron merely stood there staring at her. He opened his mouth a couple of times, as though going to say something in response, but closed it again without a word. He could tell Hermione was waiting for him to answer and, after a couple of silent minutes, wasn't remotely surprised when she let out an agitated sigh.

"If you're not going to answer, just forget about what I said," she stated irritably, before storming passed him towards Gryffindor Tower.

Ron, with his mood worsening, ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. What _had_ caused him to hold such a grudge towards Viktor Krum?

**-**

**A/N: **Big thanks to Sarah and Helen for beta-reading this chapter. Sarah especially though as she did a great job in perfecting my Sorting Hat song!

I hope you all enjoyed and PLEASE REVIEW!

Kay Elle


	3. Professor Javoslav Krum

**Chapter Three: Professor Jaroslav Krum**

The first day of classes passed by uneventfully for most of the Gryffindors. To Harry's great relief, Ron and Hermione had forgotten about their argument over Viktor and were being quite friendly once again. Hermione had to endure herself through a double lesson of her NEWT Potions class, ignoring Draco Malfoy who shouted insults at her from across the room. Ron moaned and slept all the way through History of Magic, and Harry seemed decidedly interested in reading the _Daily Prophet_ at every spare moment.

"Why is he being so _quiet_?" he asked abruptly over breakfast the next morning, causing several people around them to look at him strangely.

"Who's being so quiet?" Ron asked thickly through a mouthful of porridge. Hermione shot him a small, disgusted look, before turning back to Harry.

"Voldemort!" Harry exclaimed, causing several flinches from the people surrounding him. "We haven't heard anything from him since the _Daily Prophet_ finally reported he was back! Don't you find that strange?"

"Harry, he's using stealth," Hermione said rather simply with a small shrug. "He's not about to walk into Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade or any other public place and yell out that he's going after so-and-so next, is he? He's trying to keep it all as quiet as possible, even though everyone knows he's back now."

"Yes, I understand that, Hermione," Harry said, looking back down at the paper in front of him and skipping through a few pages, "but wouldn't you think he'd have at least killed someone, or tortured someone, or possessed someone by now?"

"Not necessarily," Hermione said with a small shake of her head. "We don't know what it was like when he was around last time. Maybe this is some sort of original plan of his. Maybe this is the way he was in the beginning last time."

"No one knew of him at the beginning last time, Hermione!" Harry said incredulously. "It was like his … _debut_ last time. No one knew of him until he showed his real, true power, gathering followers in the meantime!"

"Well, yes, I guess you're right," Hermione said weakly, rather alarmed. "But, I'm sure this is all some sort of plan of his. He's probably waiting for the right time to strike, or proposing some complicated plan for when he does." She gave Harry a small smile. "Whatever he's up to, though, Harry, there's a guaranteed chance that the Order have some idea of it."

Harry nodded, though he was still greatly unsure.

He folded the paper back up and stood up with Ron and Hermione when they had finished their breakfast and was just leaving the Hall with them when someone called out his name as they ran up behind him from the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey Harry!"

Harry turned to come face to face with Anthony Goldstein.

"Hi," Anthony said to the three of them. "Harry, we – Michael, Terry and me – were just wondering whether the DA was going to be reformed this year?"

"Well – er – I've been thinking about it, yes," Harry said with a nod at Anthony. "I'm not entirely sure as yet, though."

"Well, we were kind of hoping that it would run," Anthony said. "It was loads of fun last year and it wouldn't be bad to learn some more Defence. Have you had Krum, yet?"

"No," Ron said. "We've got him this afternoon. You?"

"Had him for single yesterday," Anthony replied. "Really odd bloke if you ask me and he's quite hard to understand; English isn't superb. He's definitely better than Umbridge, though. At least _he's_ guaranteeing some spell work!"

"Well, that's good," Ron said. "I'd hate to go through another year of nothing but theory."

Harry, Hermione and Anthony gave small signs of agreement.

Anthony turned back to Harry. "Well, anyway, Harry, let us all know when you've come to a decision about the DA, will you?" And he walked away back towards the Ravenclaw table.

Hermione turned to Harry as they started across the Entrance Hall to the marble staircase and began climbing towards their Transfiguration class. "You know, I honestly don't think it would be a good idea for the DA to reform this year, Harry," she said. "So many more people know about it, and now that the Ministry of Magic has confirmed your story about Voldemort – cut the whimpering, Ron! – returning, a lot more people are going to want to have more Defence training. I highly doubt you will be able to teach them all more on your own and there may very well not be enough room in the Room of Requirement for all the new people."

"Who says Harry's going to even let more people in, Hermione?" Ron asked, looking at her. "He'd have to teach all last year's stuff all over again because of all the new members not knowing any of it. And I'd hate to see some slimy Slytherin ruin it for us."

Harry looked doubtful. "How can we reform, then?" he asked. "If all these new people want to be members? We can't just turn around to every second one and say 'Oh, I'm sorry but you're not allowed in!'"

"We could always set a kind of …_deadline_," Hermione suggested after a moment, realising just how much Harry wanted to reform. "Fifty members at the most, including all the original members. No members under fifth year – Dennis Creevey being an exception, of course, as he's an original member, and –"

"No Slytherins," Ron said hopefully.

"We can't do that, Ron," Hermione snapped. "That would be discriminatory. And besides, who says any of the Slytherins will even _want_ to join a group run by Harry?"

"Malfoy would just to annoy us," Ron stated, glowering.

"Fine," Hermione sighed finally. "We'll put notices up in the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff common rooms and hope that the Slytherins never find out. But, this time, we're going to Dumbledore for permission. That way there's no possibility we'll get into trouble."

They came to a halt outside the Transfiguration classroom. Harry looked at Hermione, his expression still as doubtful as before. "Yes, that seems all good, Hermione," Harry said, "but I don't think I can teach fifty people on my own and there isn't much else that I really know. We've covered Stunning, blocking, Patronuses and all that. What else am I supposed to teach?"

Hermione considered it for a moment. "Well, there are quite a lot more advanced hexes and jinxes and curses in those books in the Room of Requirement. I'm sure we can find something to teach in them and I'm sure it's possible for us to learn _while_ we're teaching…" An expression of deep thought came over her face. "I'll go to the Room of Requirement today after classes and grab a few books from there to look through. We can also check the library. And, Harry, you _do_ have that book Sirius gave you for Christmas last year…"

Harry stiffened at the sound of Sirius's name exiting Hermione's lips and moved uncomfortably. The loss of his godfather still held a horribly weight inside Harry and the emotions that rose at every mere mention of him made it increase terribly. He tried to ignore it.

"What about my teaching-fifty-students-on-my-own problem?" Harry asked after a moment, pushing his thoughts of Sirius from his mind.

"Ron and I will help you, of course," Hermione said promptly. Ron nodded, but Harry was still unsure.

"And where does Krum come into this?" he asked. "Who says he'll allow it?"

"I'm sure Professor Krum will understand that this is like a homework group," Hermione said reassuringly. She seemed to have quickly grown to accept the idea of Dumbledore's Army reforming. "It's not as though we're planning to take over his classes or anything. We're just … working together to prepare ourselves for the Dark future."

The door into McGonagall's classroom opened at that moment and put an end to their conversation. They filed in with their classmates, Harry feeling much happier and reassured then he had at the beginning of the discussion.

A few of the Gryffindors were feeling slightly anxious during morning break. Their first lesson with Professor Krum was straight after and none of them really had any clue of how they should act in his classes. They had heard from five Ravenclaws and three Hufflepuffs that he was very odd and that his classes weren't as dreadful as Umbridge's, but that didn't really give them any real idea.

"Oh, I hope we learn something really interesting," Hermione, the most anxious of the lot of them, said as they headed down the third floor corridor towards the classroom.

"I just hope 'interesting' doesn't include reading chapters of _Defensive Magical Theory_ when we could be practicing important spell work," Harry said, while Neville and Ron nodded in agreement.

"Well, the book he set is full of curses and charms," Hermione said, "so he must be planning on having some practical lessons."

They reached the classroom to find the door standing open and they all, as one, fell silent. They quietly filed in to find the room extremely and eerily dark. Thick black curtains were drawn over the ceiling-high windows and not a single light was on. Towards the back of the room, Parvati and Lavender were already seated, gazing around at the darkness surrounding them with curious expressions on their shadowed faces.

Harry, Ron and Hermione each took seats in the centre of the room, the silence surrounding them causing a slight chill to run down Hermione's back and she shivered slightly.

Around them, the seats were slowly filled and there was still no sign of Professor Krum, though it was possible that he was sitting among them, unseen due to the dull blackness that filled the entire room. After a few moments, many students jumped as they heard the click of the door closing and they looked around wildly. One by one, candles placed in only the corners of the room flickered to life with flame, sending four spots of dull light towards them. A moments silence followed, until another, single candle lit near the front, identifying Professor Krum, who sat at his desk, gazing around at them through his dark eyes.

He slowly stood and walked around his desk to face them, showing his tall figure. When he spoke, his words came out in a rich Bulgarian accent, causing Hermione's to give another shiver.

"Velcome to your first sixth year Defence Against the Dark Arts class," he said. "This year, ve vill be studying some of the more Darker aspects of Defence. I vill be going over some of last year's curriculum, which I believe you vere never taught with Professor Umbridge."

There was a small murmur amongst the class at this piece of information.

"The spells and curses you vill be learning are quite advanced and I, as vell as Professor Dumbledore, vill be very surprised if you master them all by the end of the year," Krum continued as the class regained its silence. "Your single lessons vill be dedicated to theory, vile your double lessons vill contain the practical aspects of your vork. I haff great confidence in you all and expect you all to put in your greatest effort in all your tasks.

"The first task I am setting you is the very advanced, but extremely valuable Patronus Charm," Krum continued. There was another small murmur in the class, most of whom had already attempted producing Patronuses in the DA, but they all seemed quite happy to learn it all over again. "Ve vill start today vith the theory and hopefully ve can practice the Charm during our double lesson on Friday."

For the rest of the lesson, the classroom was filled with the sound of scratching quills on parchment and the occasional whisper. They each copied down notes from the blackboard, filling almost three feet of parchment with writing. No one complained and, after a full hour, they left the classroom together, feeling that this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts class couldn't possibly be as terrible as the last.

Hermione was just heading out of the room with Harry and Ron by her side when Professor Krum's deep voice carried across the room.

"Miss Granger, vould you please stay behind for a moment?" he asked.

Hermione looked at Harry, avoiding Ron's eye. "Tell Professor Flitwick I might be slightly late," she said and she turned and headed back into the room, feeling rather nervous about standing in a room alone with Viktor's father.

Krum studied her for a moment before speaking. "I haff heard quite a lot about you from Viktor, Miss Granger," he said calmly, as he pulled a parchment envelope from his black dragonhide briefcase. He gave the left arm of his robes a slight twitch as he handed over the envelope.

Hermione, frowning slightly, politely took it from him and looked carefully at it. Scrawled messily across the top in Viktor's familiar handwriting was her name.

Krum was watching her closely. "He seems to be highly fond of you," he stated with the shadow of a smile. "He has even arranged to come here to Hogvarts over Christmas. He appears excited to see you again."

Hermione looked up from the envelope quickly. Had she heard correctly? Viktor was coming to Hogwarts for Christmas? Hermione's stomach gave an unpleasant turn at the thought. For some reason, she wasn't really looking forward to seeing Viktor again.

An image of what Ron might look like if he saw Viktor Krum entering the castle filled her mind and her stomach gave another unpleasant flip. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Viktor again at all…

"Before you leave to head to your next class, Miss Granger, I vould like to thank-you," Professor Krum said, gesturing to the room around them. "If it vasn't for your contact vith Viktor, I vould never haff known about the job of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher being vacant and I vould never haff applied or gotten it. Thank-you."

Hermione worked her face into a smile and bade a small good-bye before exiting the room. Reaching the deserted corridor, she broke into a fast walk, Viktor's letter still clutched in her hand. She reached the Charms classroom and quickly placed the letter in her bag before entering the classroom.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor," she said to tiny Professor Flitwick as she took a seat beside Ron. "Professor Krum wanted to discuss something with me."

Professor Flitwick gave a tiny nod. "Of course, of course," he squeaked before heading away.

Ron turned to Hermione. "What did Krum want?" he asked.

"Oh, he just gave me a letter from Viktor," Hermione said slowly, again avoiding his eyes as her cheeks turned a light pink. "I'll tell you the rest over lunch."

Ron gave her a slightly quizzical look before turning back to the mouse he was supposed to be Freezing, but instead it was running madly around in a rapid circle on the table as it changed from white to bright orange and back again. The class was much too eventful for him to ask any more questions for her to answer.

After many colour changes and temper-rising mistakes, Harry, Ron and Hermione headed out into the corridor filled with hungry students heading down to the Great Hall for lunch. Ron kept casting sideways looks at Hermione, but Hermione, quite aware of this, ignored it and walked silently beside Harry.

As they headed down the staircase into the Entrance Hall, Ron gave a sigh. "So, Hermione, are you going to tell us what else Krum said?" he asked.

Before Hermione could answer, however, Harry gave a groan, causing both her and Ron to look at him. They saw him staring at something ahead of them and followed his line of vision.

Cho Chang was struggling through the crowd of people, casting occasional glances at them as she came closer. She stopped in front of them, her cheeks pink. She gave Harry a smile and moved awkwardly on the spot.

"Hi Harry, I've been meaning to let you know that I'm sorry about your loss of Sirius Black," she said. A small amount of tears seemed to have surfaced in her eyes as she said this. "I only found out yesterday that he was actually your godfather (Luna Lovegood told me) and I know exactly how you must feel. After all, I lost Cedric."

Harry gave her a forced smile as her tears became more evident. "Gee, thanks Cho," he said awkwardly.

Cho gave him another, very weak smile before running away, tears now spilling down her cheeks.

"She still isn't over Diggory then," Ron muttered. He looked at Harry, who was watching the spot she had disappeared with a blank expression on his face. "Come on," Ron said, "I'm starving." He lead the rest of the way down the stairs and entered the Great Hall with a hungry expression on his face as the smells of the lunch dishes reached his nostrils.

They each took seats across from Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ginny at the Gryffindor table and were about to start dishing food onto their plates when a vague voice sounded behind them.

"Gravies can contain different varieties of Hair-Sprouting Potions, you know."

The three of them looked around to see a dreamy-looking girl of around fifteen years of age with long, straggly dirty-blonde hair; her rather protuberant eyes were staring blankly at Ron.

"Hello, Luna," Hermione said as politely as she possibly could. "Did you and your dad end up catching a Crumple-Horned Snorkack over the summer?"

Luna looked at Hermione. "No, unfortunately," she said, "but Daddy thought he saw a Bibbering Humdinger on the way to the toilet the night before we came back."

Hermione seemed to struggle with herself for a moment before smiling. Luna turned back to Harry.

"I was wondering whether you were going to run the DA again this year?" she asked dreamily, casting a quick glance in Ron's direction.

"I – er – was thinking about it, yes," Harry said. "Ron, Hermione and I just have to organise the new – er – conditions before I know for sure. I'll tell you when I do."

Luna gave a small nod, said, "Good-bye, then", and walked back to her place at the Ravenclaw table.

Ron looked back towards Hermione, who had pulled Viktor's letter out of her bag and was now in the middle of reading it. It was rather short, being a mere three paragraphs long, but the moment Hermione had started reading it, she knew it held no help or support about what she should do about her wish. In fact, the subject of her wanting to be kissed before her sixteenth birthday wasn't mentioned once as it seemed all Viktor could talk about was his coming to stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas festive.

She folded the letter back up with a small, disappointed sigh when she had finished and placed it back in her bag.

"So, what does Vicky have to say?" Ron asked, as Hermione started eating the small amount of lamb casserole on her plate.

Hermione didn't look up at him as she replied. "He's coming to Hogwarts over Christmas," she said shortly.

Ron choked loudly on his pumpkin juice. "Krum's coming here – ­_He's_ coming back to Hogwarts?" he spattered, looking horrorstruck.

Hermione looked up at him and nodded rather grimly. "That's right," she said simply. Ron stared at her with an odd expression, causing Hermione to frown and look at him questioningly. "Do you have a problem with that, Ron?"

It was obvious that he did. He mouthed wordlessly in an uncomfortable sort of way as though he didn't know how to reply and looked at her with that same odd expression that caused a strange and rather fluttery sensation to take place in Hermione's stomach. Eventually, however, he looked back down at his plate.

"There goes seeing you over Christmas, then," he muttered finally, feeling a strong surge of hatred towards Viktor Krum flood through him.

Hermione, who had just taken a mouthful of casserole, swallowed thickly and painfully and looked up at him again. "What – What is _that_ supposed to mean?" she asked indignantly.

Ron hadn't expected her to hear him. "Well," he said uneasily, casting a cautious look at Harry, who was watching the scene with slumped shoulders and a rather bored expression on his face. "Well," Ron started again, "you're going to want to catch up with each other, aren't you? You haven't seen each other in about a year and we all know how he feels about you –"

"So you're just assuming that Viktor still thinks I'm the most amazing girl he's met, are you?" Hermione asked irritably, her brown eyes narrowed and flashing with anger. "How do you know that he hasn't moved on and met some pretty girl in Bulgaria?"

"I've seen how long those letters you send each other are!" Ron stated in a vexatious manner. "You can call him you're friend, or pen-pal all you like, Hermione, but you and I both know differently. Harry and I are your _best_ friends and never once have we received letters that long from you!"

"So you're judging Viktor and my relationship by the length of letters?" Hermione asked incredulously, her cheeks going pink with anger. "Well, that just proves exactly how stupid and _pathetic_ you can be, Ron! Viktor and I are no more than friends and never have been! I told you that a mere couple of days ago and yet it went in one ear and out the other, just like everything else that passes by your pea-sized brain!"

"You can't deny that he likes you more than just a friend, Hermione!" Ron said angrily. His ears were bright red and he was highly oblivious of everything going on around him except for Hermione and the argument taking place between them. "He said in our fourth year that –"

"We're already aware of what he said, Ron, but that was almost _two_ years ago!" Hermione said, her eyes were beginning to fill with angry and upset tears and her face was extremely pink. As she continued, her voice was slightly shaky and in a tone much quieter than the one she had previously used. "I really don't know what your problem is Ron. All this rivalry between you and me over the tiny subject of Viktor is ridiculous. I want you to understand that I never, ever felt the same way towards him. I always felt that way towards – towards someone else."

Ron stared at her, thunderstruck. A strange feeling swept over him and he was struck with a feeling of curiosity. "Who?" he asked quietly, not knowing if he really wanted her to share this information.

Hermione shook her head quickly and her face, if possible, turned even redder. "I can't tell you," she said shortly, looking away from him and suddenly becoming interested in the shape of a jug holding pumpkin juice. "It's my personal business and you just happen to be … very close to him."

When she looked up to meet his eyes again, she immediately knew that this had been the wrong thing to say to Ron. He jumped to his feet abruptly, looking quickly from Hermione to Harry and back again, his mouth agape.

"You liked – You liked HARRY?" he gasped loudly in shock, startling several people nearby.

Hermione jumped to her feet as well, looking greatly alarmed. "I never said – You're just assuming – I didn't –" She paused a moment, gathering herself together. It wasn't common for her to stammer like that. "I did _not_ like Harry in that way at all, Ron! You just assumed that it was him, when it really wasn't!"

"But you said I was close to them!" Ron pointed out indignantly.

"Yes, I did, but that didn't automatically mean that I meant _Harry_!" Hermione said irritably. "It could've been anyone! It could've been Fred, or George, or Neville, or … or _YOU_!"

Ron gaped at her in shock, while she looked at him rather accusingly for a moment before shaking her head to herself with a frown, gathered up her things and walked away and out of the Great Hall, several curious eyes following her process.

**-**

**A/N: **Big thanks to Helen for beta-reading this chapter!

I hope you enjoyed and PLEASE REVIEW!


	4. Confessions

**Chapter Four: Confessions**

Ron stared at the doorway in which Hermione had disappeared through with his mouth still agape and an expression mixed with shock and disbelief on his face. He very slowly sat back down on his seat and pushed his plate of food away, too confused to eat. He felt eyes on him and looked around to find Harry, Ginny and several other knowing Gryffindors gazing at him with amused expressions and smiles on their faces.

"What?" Ron barked, annoyance adding to the list of emotions he was feeling at that very moment.

Harry lifted his eyebrows. "Nothing," he said simply with a small shrug, a smile still on his face. He looked away and caught Ginny's eye and they grinned in a knowing way, trying not to break out in a fit of laughter. Ron, who had shifted his gaze back to the empty doorway, was completely oblivious of this exchange between his best friend and sister.

Everything Hermione had said was slowly and ominously repeating itself in his head, but it seemed that his numbing brain could only register one thing: _It could've been him._

-

Hermione sat on her bed, her head in her hands as she remembered her words to Ron.

She had never, not once, come that close to confessing her true feelings and yet at the same time, come so close to slapping him. She couldn't understand why she became so touchy every time Ron mentioned Viktor's name in such a jealous way. Maybe it was because she wanted Ron to realise that she didn't like Viktor any more than him; her feelings for Viktor were nowhere near as strong as the ones she held for him…

She let out a small sob and shook her head to herself just as there was a knock on her dormitory door.

"Hermione?" Ginny's voice called. "Hermione, are you in there?"

"Yes. Come in, Ginny!" Hermione called back, straightening up and running a hand through her messy hair as the door slowly opened and Ginny's small, red-headed figure entered the room, heading straight to where Hermione sat on her bed.

Hermione only had to look at the meaningful glint in the younger girl's eyes to know what she was going to say.

"Ignore my brother's insolence, Hermione," Ginny said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. "He'll wake up eventually and when he does, everything will hit him the face and he'll work to sort it out … _Hopefully_."

"It's not just his insolence, Ginny," Hermione said bitterly. "It's everything; I'm tired of him bringing up the subject of Viktor and making out that I have some full-on love affair with him. All I want for him to do is wake up and just tell me why he acts the way he does. It's not even like he does it once every now and then, either; it's _all the time_! I'm completely and utterly over it!"

"I keep telling you, Hermione. He likes you," Ginny said. "It's obvious. You know it is."

Hermione looked down at her hands. She still hadn't told Ginny anything about her feelings for Ron. There had been a few times in which she had come close to letting her secrets out but she had always stopped herself before she even began giving away anything. At this moment, however, she felt as though she had to tell someone, someone close and that she could trust … and a female.

"G-Ginny," Hermione said slowly and rather uneasily, "I – There's something I need to tell you." Ginny looked at her curiously but had a small idea as to what Hermione was going to say. "I'm just not sure as to _how_ I can say it; I haven't told anyone. I mean, I've wanted to tell you for a while, but … I've had my reasons not to. It's really starting to drive me mad, though."

Ginny studied Hermione's troubled face and gave her a smile. "Hermione," she said carefully. "You don't have to worry. Whatever it is that you want to tell me, whatever it is that's _driving you mad_, I'll keep to myself if you wish me to. I won't make any comments about it. In fact, I won't say anything about it unless I think it's needed."

Hermione gave a weak smile. "I've been thinking a lot lately," she started rather nervously. "I've been thinking about Ron and some of the things he says and some of the things he does." She paused and looked at Ginny steadily, feeling a bit more confident. "I think I like Ron. I _know_ I like Ron. Quite a lot to be honest. I have since about fourth year but I've kept it a secret until now and I just – I don't know what to do about it. I try to ignore it, I try to ignore everything that makes me attracted to him, but no matter how much I try, I just seem to fall for him even more. It's confusing and complicated and … it's driving me _mad_!"

"Hermione, all you have to do is wait for Ron," Ginny said with an assuring nod. "It might take a while knowing my brother, but he'll eventually get all his thoughts and feelings together and he'll realise what everyone else already has: He likes you and he likes you a lot! Just wait."

There was a small space of silence as Hermione took this in, but her thoughts were also on something else. Her sixteenth birthday was two weeks away and as this thought crossed her mind, her stomach did an odd plummet.

"Ginny, w-what's it like to be kissed?" she asked quietly.

Ginny looked at her in surprise. "Um – well – it's really quite hard to explain. When it happens for the first time and it's with someone you really like, it's the best feeling possible at that time in a relationship. It can be awkward, but you feel so warm and wholesome inside and you just want the feeling to linger forever, no matter how nervous you are. That's how it was when Michael first kissed me." She paused a moment and looked at Hermione curiously. "Why do you ask anyway, Hermione?"

Hermione hesitated. "I've never been kissed and I kind of wanted to be before my birthday," she admitted shyly. "I always dreamed it would be with Ron. And if not Ron, then Harry."

Ginny's smile faltered slightly when Harry's name exited Hermione's mouth. "Harry?"

Hermione looked at Ginny and shrugged. "I may not really be … _attracted_ to him, Ginny, but he _is_ my best friend as well."

Ginny smiled again, calming down. "I'm sure it'll happen eventually, Hermione. You'll soon be kissed and it'll be enjoyable for you."

-

Four full days had passed since Ron and Hermione's argument in the Great Hall and the two of them still weren't acting their friendly selves towards each other. This greatly annoyed Harry, who had taken up trying to sort it all out and make them talk ever since.

"Ron, just apologise and put it behind you," he said over dinner after Hermione had given Ron a cold look and moved further down the table to sit with Neville. "You know you've hurt her and it's up to you to put it right. I know you dislike not being on speaking terms with her."

"Is there even a point?" Ron asked. "We'll just end up arguing again in a couple of days anyway."

"Yeah well maybe if you didn't upset her as much you wouldn't argue," Harry muttered.

Ron glared at him. "What's _that _supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"Well…" Harry said cautiously, "You do seem to have the tendency to say the wrong thing. I mean, you know she's a bit touchy about the Viktor Krum issue and you _do_ bring it up quite a lot. I really think you should learn to believe that the two of them were never anything more than friends, even if he did … you know…"

"Even if he did _what_?" Ron asked quickly. "What do you know that I don't? Harry, he didn't kiss her or anything did he?"

Harry stared at Ron, amusement dancing in his emerald eyes. "No, Ron, Krum didn't kiss Hermione – or at least I don't think he did… I don't know…" Harry shook his head. "Look, Ron, you know Krum said that 'he'd never felt the same way about any other girl' when it came to Hermione. What I'm saying is that even if he did like her, that doesn't automatically mean she likes him or ever did for that matter. You should believe what she's telling you and not continue with your same old accusations and assumptions. I know that I believe her. Her and Krum were never any more than friends."

Ron considered this and sighed. "So what are you saying?" he said slowly. "You think I should just apologise and forget anything ever happened?"

"And think before you speak," Harry said. He paused and looked at his best friend carefully as the red-head watched Hermione out of the corner of his eye. "It wouldn't hurt for you to work out your jealousy, either," he added quietly, eyeing Ron rather amusedly.

Ron looked straight at Harry abruptly. "_What?_"

Harry smirked. "Talk to you later, Ron," he said happily, getting up and catching up with Ginny who was about to exit the Hall.

"Hermione admitted to me the other day that she likes Ron," Ginny whispered to Harry when they reached the deserted Gryffindor common room. "Any luck with Ron, though?"

"No," Harry sighed. "I'm going to try and get some answers out of him tonight."

The two of them, over the last few days, since the argument in the Great Hall, had secretly been trying to work out the whole Ron and Hermione situation, having finally become tired of deciding not to interfere. They were both extremely sick of the constant bickering between the two, the obvious jealousy (mainly on Ron's part), and the fact that they were each quite oblivious of the other's distinct feelings.

"I really hope none of this planning backfires on us," Ginny said anxiously, "but it _has_ to be worked out. Fred and George were only telling me on the last day of summer that if they were coming back to Hogwarts this year they'd sort it themselves. Remember the argument they had about gnomes? Merlin, after that it's not surprising even _Mum_ wants them to hurry up and get together!"

Harry laughed. "I don't see how it's possible that everyone but them find it deadly obvious!"

"Well, I think Hermione has a fair idea as to how much Ron likes her, but Ron…" Ginny trailed off. "My brother's just a dumb, oblivious git! I mean, he's probably even oblivious to his _own_ feelings!"

Harry laughed again and, after a moment, Ginny joined in. Watching her out of the corner of his eye, Harry slowly stopped laughing, keeping a smile on his face and studied her for a moment out of the corner of his eye as her laughing slowly ceased, leaving a small smile curving her lips.

"Are you still going out with Dean?" Harry asked, curious. Ginny frowned at him. "I haven't seen you with him much lately, that's all."

Ginny smiled. "We are still together, yes, but I've been really busy training for Chaser," she said.

"Oh," Harry said and for some very strange reason, he felt his stomach fall a couple of centimetres. "The try-outs are when? Friday?"

"Yeah, I checked with McGonagall this afternoon in Transfiguration," Ginny replied. "I also asked about the new captain and she said she's still trying to decide. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but she's apparently choosing between you and Katie. You two have been playing on the team longest, so…"

Harry suddenly imagined himself standing in front of the Gryffindor team, giving instructions. A smile spread across his face and he inwardly hoped it would be him McGonagall chose for captain.

The sound of the portrait swinging open cut into Harry's thoughts and he and Ginny looked around to find Dean and Seamus entering the room, deep in discussion.

"…he really freaks me out," Seamus voiced. "He sits there in that creepy, near dark room, staring at you and taking in your every move."

He took a seat beside Harry as Dean gave Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Who freaks you out, Seamus?" Ginny asked, frowning.

"Professor Krum," Dean said. "He overheard Seamus and I talking about a little Halloween prank we're planning and gave us detention for tomorrow 'for our unvanted immaturity'. We have to write a seven-hundred-word essay on why planning pranks is inappropriate."

"I thought he was rather alright," Harry admitted. "Bit strange, yeah, but alright. I mean, I always thought Viktor was kind of strange and Professor Krum just displays where he got it from."

"I happen to think Professor Krum's very odd," Ginny said darkly. "He has this strange and eerie vibe. The darkness of his room, the way he speaks about the Darkness of the past, the creepy shadowing of his face… He's more than strange and, from the look of his office, he's obsessed with You-Know-Who's process. I was in there the other day collecting a letter for Professor McGonagall. His walls are plastered with articles and photos of the past, most of which outline You-Know-Who and his supporters, back when they were at full power. I also noticed several newer ones, such as Harry's _Quibber_ interview last year and all the recent _Daily Prophet_ news and warnings. It seems extremely strange."

Harry, who oddly felt quite unconcerned by this piece of news, shrugged. "Maybe he's an ex Bulgarian Auror," he suggested. "He sort of seems the type. Perhaps that's his reason for following Voldemort's process."

Ginny shrugged and stared into the empty fireplace, where a large black spider was lurking. She honestly didn't know what to think or believe.

Several hours later, after doing his night's homework, Harry headed upstairs to the sixth-year boys' dormitory with Ron, his thoughts on what Ginny had told him earlier.

He honestly believed it was impossible that Professor Krum was in fact a supporter of Voldemort. The fact he had decorated his office with memorabilia didn't say anything about his characteristic. Perhaps he, like hundreds of other witches and wizards all around the world, had experienced a death of someone close to him in the past, and he had since been following the murderer's process since. He could be, like he had suggested earlier, an ex-Auror for the Bulgarian republic and had worked to protect his people from the Dark Lord. Whatever his reason for having such a Dark hobby, Harry highly doubted Professor Krum was indeed a supporter of Voldemort.

"What's up?" Ron asked as they pulled their pajamas out and began to undress.

Harry hesitated before repeating Ginny's observation. When he had finished, Ron looked slightly uneasy.

"I don't know, Harry," Ron said slowly. "He could support You-Know-Who. I mean, if he's _that_ obsessed!"

"But Ron, we don't know anything about his past!" Harry said. "I highly doubt Dumbledore would hire someone who's a possible Death Eater."

"Yeah, I guess…" Ron paused for a while, getting into his blue and white-striped pajamas. He frowned and let out a sigh. "Either way, I wouldn't go voicing any suspicions of Krum being a Death Eater to Hermione," he added miserably. "She's likely to bite your head off and spit it down an unflushed toilet."

Harry climbed under his blankets and looked over at Ron. "Still haven't apologised, then?"

Ron shook his head. "No," he groaned. "I sort of tried after you left at dinner, but she just looked at me coldly, stood up and left. I haven't seen her since."

Harry looked at his friend carefully. "Ron, why _do_ you get so jealous at every mention of Krum?" he asked.

Ron head shot around to look at Harry. "I'm not jealous of Krum!" he said incredulously. "Why the hell would I be jealous of a slouchy git like that?"

"Because you like Hermione and you hate the fact that she may like or have liked him," Harry replied casually.

Harry watched as a red tinge crept from Ron's ears and covered the whole of Ron's face, disguising every last freckle.

"I don't like Hermione in any way more than a friend!" he said bitterly, looking away and staring at the empty contents of Neville's bed across the room.

"Ron," Harry said, "it's obvious that you do. Why else would you get so jealous of Krum? Why else would you get so angry every time Malfoy or some other Slytherin called her Mudblood or some other offens–?"

"Because it's a foul name and she's my friend!" Ron cut in across the rest of Harry's sentence.

"You're not even _that_ protective of your own _sister_, Ron!" Harry said pointedly. "I see you, every day, watching Hermione carefully out of the corner of your eye but I don't say anything about it. I see the way you struggle to contain yourself every time she merely _touches_ you on the _hand_. I watch and understand it all, Ron, but I've chosen not to say anything until now. Admit it to me, Ron. Do you like Hermione in a more than friendly way?"

"YES!" Ron shouted resentfully before irritably letting his head fall into his hands, his fingers pulling on his hair slightly. After a moment, he looked back at Harry, his face burning flame red. "I don't know. Harry, I'm really not sure. I think I might – I guess I do … I dunno…" He stopped and looked at Harry carefully, his entire face dark crimson in colour. "I do…"

Harry smiled triumphantly and began to pull the hangings of his bed closed. "Alright then," he said, satisfied. "Goodnight." And with that he pulled the last curtain closed and lay back in bed, leaving Ron staring at the scarlet hangings in confused shock, so many questions forming in his head, one answer of which appeared as a fact to him: _He liked Hermione…_

**-**

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed and PLEASE REVIEW!


	5. Needed Apologies and Deserved Captaincy

**- Chapter Five - **

_**Needed Apologies and Deserved Captaincy**_

Hermione headed along a deserted corridor on the seventh floor silently, her thoughts on the conversation that she and Harry had just been having. When Harry had first approached her after lunch, she had thought it would've been about Ron, who was yet to apologise to her. She had not, however, believed that it would be to make plans for reforming Dumbledore's Army. She promised she would, straight away, do what she had meant to do days ago and collect some books from the Room of Requirement for them to study from, though.

She came to a stop at Barnabas the Barmy's large tapestry and looked around at the blank stretch of wall opposite. She bit her lip and paced up and down in front of it a couple of times, whispering, "_I need to enter the DA room and borrow some books for our classes_", while concentrating on what the room had looked like when she'd entered it last.

Suddenly, an ornate polished door appeared out of nowhere in the blank wall and she hurried forward, seized the brass handle and opened the door to reveal the spacious DA room.

Glancing around at the many wooden bookshelves that lined the walls and the silk cushions that were scattered across the floor, Hermione couldn't help but let a smile come to her lips as she remembered how much fun she had experienced in this room. She headed over to the nearest bookshelf and ran her index finger across the spines of one shelf of books and pulled the occasional one out, feeling it would come in handy.

Nearly twenty minutes passed until she finally felt she had enough books down to satisfy Harry. She sat down on one of the cushions and started packing them into her bag, feeling that reforming the DA was truly a good idea after all and would be, without a doubt, fun. They had yet to ask for Dumbledore's permission, but neither Hermione nor Harry felt in a great rush. The headmaster would most likely allow it.

Hermione was just zipping up her bag, a smile still on her lips, when the door of the room opened. She looked up quickly, only to see Ron standing in front of the now-closed door, a rather uncomfortable expression on his face. They looked at each other for a moment before Hermione looked back down and finished zipping up her bag. When finished, she looked back up at Ron; he was watching her with the same uncomfortable expression on his face.

"Harry said I would find you here," he said finally, walking further into the room and taking a seat on the closest cushion, a couple of metres from where Hermione sat on hers.

Hermione, who was about to stand up and leave, stay seated and looked at him carefully. His expression still hadn't changed and there was something there that Hermione had never really seen there before. What it was, she couldn't quite put her finger on. All she knew was that he obviously had something to say and she was, without a doubt, going to hear him out.

"Why did you want to find me, Ron?" she asked quietly, not looking at him but instead at her bag, which was bulging with books.

"I wanted to apologise," he replied with a shrug that Hermione didn't see.

Hermione looked up at him. He was looking straight at her, his deep, sky blue eyes seemingly darker than usual. As much as she had wanted him to apologise, she never actually thought that he would. It was actually quite rare for Ron to ever apologise after they had a fight and now that he was, Hermione really didn't know what to think.

"I'm sorry for being a prat," Ron said, "bringing up your and Krum's _relationship_ and making false assumptions about it. I should've believed that you and Krum were never anything more than friends right from the beginning, but I didn't. I shouldn't have kept persuading the subject."

Hermione frowned and looked back down. She definitely hadn't expected Ron to apologise to _that_ extent!

"Why _did_ you keep persuading the subject, Ron?" she asked. "Why couldn't you accept, right from the beginning, that Viktor and I are no more than just friends? Why do you get so jealous and upset every time the subject of Viktor Krum comes up, even if _you're_ the one that brings it up in the first place? Why don't you like him? What's he ever done to you?"

"I dunno," Ron said uneasily, while his mind, to his great annoyance and uncertainty, screamed, _"He stole you!"_ He looked at Hermione, taking in her pleading expression. "I dunno… I guess he just … gets to me, is all…"

Hermione frowned at him. "What do you mean, _he gets to you_, Ron?" she asked, moving to her knees on the cushion and looking straight into his eyes. "You hardly know him and ever since fourth-year – the Yule Ball – you've held a grudge towards him and I don't understand what your reason for that could possibly be. Before I went with him to the ball, you were acting as though he was the world's greatest celebrity, fussing about how much you wanted his autograph…" She watched as Ron moved uncomfortably, the tips of his ears going pink. "Why are you so jealous of him, Ron? You really have _no reason_ to be…"

"I have my reasons," Ron muttered irritably, looking away from her.

"What reasons, Ron?" Hermione asked quietly. "I really feel I deserve to know…"

Ron stayed silent for a couple of minutes, staring at the cracked Flo-Glass that hung on the wall. He slowly turned his head until his eyes met Hermione's again, an irritated expression etched into his freckled face.

"I dunno why I even bothered coming to apologise to you, Hermione," he said, standing up but not taking his eyes off her. "I should've known you'd ask me questions I either don't know the answer to or don't want to answer. It's like your favourite hobby or something…"

He turned and made towards the door, but Hermione, admittedly desperate to have him back as a friend, leapt to her feet.

"No, Ron, wait, please don't leave," she pleaded. Ron stopped in his tracks and turned slightly to look at her. "I'm sorry I asked the questions. I can tell they made you uncomfortable, but I really feel I deserve at least one straight answer here. I'm tired of you always bringing up Viktor and accusing me of having feelings for him when I always fancied someone else, not Viktor. I just want to be able to go a full week without Viktor's name coming up. That way, I can avoid having another fight with you over the subject of him. I really don't like him as any more than a friend and a pen-pal, Ron and I want you to believe that to its full extent."

Ron stared at her with a vacant face, taking in every word she had said, before giving her a lopsided smile. "I believe you," he said eventually.

Hermione smiled and hurried forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank-you, Ron," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "I really don't think I could stand you avoiding me any longer."

"I'm sorry," Ron said awkwardly, patting her on the back slightly, hoping she would let go of him soon, but at the same time wanting her to stay there.

"Damn," Ginny said as she slowly and silently re-closed the door of the Room of Requirement.

She and Harry had followed Ron there to see what he said or did and, to their disappointment, it hadn't exactly ended up being the show they had hoped it to be.

"At least they're back on friendly terms," Harry said as they headed down the corridor together. "Give them a while and hopefully their feelings will come out and everyone will be happy."

"I really don't know why he just didn't confess his feelings for her when she asked why he was jealous," Ginny said thoughtfully. "That hug could really have turned into a kiss if he just let it all out, even if he's not – well – _certain_ of exactly how he feels. I'm honestly ashamed of having such an oblivious prat for a brother… He seriously needs to wake up and notice how he feels about his female best friend – kiss her – _anything_!"

Harry stayed silent and tried hard not to imagine his two best friends snogging. It had been so long since he had kissed Cho under the mistletoe before Christmas. He was over Cho, he knew that for sure, but lately, every time someone mentioned kissing or he saw a couple at the act somewhere around school, he immediately pictured her under the mistletoe, tears in her eyes. He would never forget the events leading up to and the bliss he felt during his first and only kiss.

Harry mentally shook his head to clear his thoughts as he descended the stairs to the sixth floor and looked around at Ginny who walked beside him silently, a puzzled expression covering her freckled face. She unblinkingly watched where she was going, evidently in deep thought with her dark brown eyes narrowed slightly as they headed towards the next staircase.

"What's up?" Harry asked her, being truly curious as to what was running through her mind at that moment.

"I'm just…" She looked at Harry carefully. "Has Hermione ever told you that she's never been kissed?"

Harry's eyebrows rose to meet his messy hair. "Um … no," he replied with a shrug. "I sort of always, to myself, imagined she and Krum might've… Why?"

"The other day," Ginny said slowly as they headed down another set of stairs, "when she admitted to liking Ron, she said she's never been kissed and that … she wanted to be … before her birthday. She asked me what it was like to be kissed and I told her as much as I could remember and over-exaggerated a bit. To tell the truth, it's been a while since I've been kissed."

Harry frowned. "I thought you were going out with Dean?" he said quietly, his stomach doing a very strange twist that he couldn't quite explain.

"Oh, I am," Ginny said, going a little pink in the cheeks as she looked down. "Dean just hasn't really kissed me since we first got together. I mean, sure, he gives me tiny little kisses on the cheek and occasional kisses on the lips, but our first _real_ kiss has really been the only." She shrugged and gave Harry a false sort of smile.

Harry felt uncomfortable, but didn't entirely understand why. A strange, almost tempting feeling ran through his body and with every mention of Dean and the word "kiss" from Ginny's mouth, a strong, complicated and confused emotion overwhelmed him and pounded in annoyance. He didn't know what was causing it, though.

He looked at Ginny out of the corner of his eye, trying to push his confusion aside. He could tell by the look of confusion and slight sadness on her own face that she didn't much want to discuss the lack of kissing going on in her and Dean's relationship and quickly turned the conversation to himself.

"I haven't kissed anyone since Christmas," he said, before mentally punching himself. She didn't want to know about his pitiful kissing experience! However, she did in fact seem slightly interested and looked at him in a gesture to continue. "After the last DA meeting before we left for Christmas break – with Cho."

Ginny made a disgruntled sound and looked away, feeling annoyed. "Nearly three years I tried to get you to notice me and for two of those years, all your attention was on Cho Chang, the beautiful Ravenclaw Seeker that had guys all over the school dropping at her feet. I had no chance against her so I ended up with Michael and who'd he leave me for? Cho Chang!"

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Harry said. "I swear you're as annoyed with her as I am. She yapped on about Diggory all the time when I didn't feel ready to discuss it and then she went and accused me of seeing Hermione as well as other girls while I was with her."

Ginny made another disgruntled sound and looked at Harry carefully. "I started to fancy you a bit at the end of last year again," she admitted, looking away as a pink tinge crept in amongst her freckles again. "Luna and I were sort of concocting a little plan for me to kiss you, but then Dean, well… you know…"

Harry felt a pang in his heart and he stared at Ginny in disbelief. He hadn't even _suspected_ she had liked him again! Pushing those thoughts aside he realised she had mentioned Luna and frowned.

"How _has_ Luna been lately?" he said. "I mean, I spoke to her very briefly about the DA the other day in the Great Hall and she seemed as loony as ever, but I haven't seen her around much."

Ginny shrugged. "I heard Ravenclaw fifth-year's have been getting detention from Professor Krum quite a bit over the last week. That and our homework pile is _huge_. She probably hasn't had much of a chance to escape. We'll see her once the DA is running again don't you worry. I was talking to her in Herbology the other day and she seems really excited about it."

Harry nodded, his thoughts back on what Ginny had said about having had feelings for him. "Ginny," she said slowly as they headed across the cavernous Entrance Hall towards the outside grounds, "why did you have feelings for me?"

Ginny smiled and stopped in front of him, facing him. "Because you're everything," she said, and with that she headed away in a slow run towards the lake, where Seamus and Dean were throwing stones.

Harry, with her words repeating themselves in his mind and his heartbeat irregular, sighed and slowly headed in the opposite direction to visit Hagrid for the first time that term.

_DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY ("DA")_

_The DA is a Defence Against the Dark Arts group/class held at least one night a week!_

_Run and organised by students (Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger), a maximum of forty new members are wanted for when we reform on September 18!_

_Places to join this group are available to all Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students fifth-year and above with exceptions to original members!_

_If interested, please inform one of the organisers mentioned above to be given further details!_

_ORIGINAL MEMBERS: Our re-forming meeting is being held at seven o'clock on September 18 in our usual room. New members shall also be there and arrangements will be made from then! Please come!_

_(Please keep the information on this notice concealed from all Slytherins or suffer consequences! – Ron Weasley.)_

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood in Dumbledore's office anxiously as the headmaster ran his twinkling blue eyes over the notice carefully. When he reached the end, he chuckled, rolled up the parchment and looked at the three of them through his glasses.

"I am, without any doubt, willing to have the DA reform," he said with a smile. "The fact you are not allowing students from Slytherin house to join is however discriminatory and I am unable to allow it. I do understand your reasoning for not wanting any of them to take part, but I am afraid that you will have to be fair and give them the option."

Harry and Ron exchanged dark looks, and then looked at Hermione, who was walking forward to collect the notice back off Dumbledore.

"Thank-you, Sir," she said as he handed it back. "We'll make the changes to the notice as soon as we get back to the common room."

Dumbledore gave the three of them a short nod and they left after saying goodbye.

"Well that's bloody brilliant, isn't it?" Ron said snappily as they headed down the revolving staircase and back out into the second floor corridor, the wall with the stone gargoyle sliding back into place behind them. "Now we have to put up with _Malfoy_!"

"Well, not necessarily, Ron," Hermione said calmly. "We still have the number limit and if Malfoy approaches us wanting to join, we'll just say we've reached that limit, even if we haven't."

"Hermione," Harry said dully, "that's a great idea, but what if Malfoy and his clan are the only Slytherins who _want_ to join. We can't say no to them then, can we? Dumbledore'll know something's up if there's no Slytherin members."

Hermione smiled weakly. "If that happens, then we'll try to teach Crabbe and Goyle a really hard spell to practice on Malfoy. The worst that can happen there is that they actually do it properly."

Ron snorted slightly and decided it really couldn't be all _that_ bad.

Come lunchtime next day, Hermione was counting the many names she'd written on a piece of loose parchment.

"Twenty-nine," Hermione finished, looking up at Harry. "There's still room for a few more. We did say we wanted forty at the most. But –" she ran her quill down the line of names – "We don't have any Slytherins as yet –"

"Then you can write our names on that little list of yours, Granger," drawled the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy behind them. "Me, Crabbe and Goyle."

"Oh, and me," simpered Pansy Parkinson, who had now joined, a smirk forming on her pug-like face as she hooked her arm through Malfoy's.

Malfoy scowled, disgusted and nudged her off before heading away.

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged dark looks before Hermione proceeded to write their names down. She placed her quill down with a weak sigh, having a fair idea as to what Ron was going to say next.

"Well that definitely puts a groan on the excitement of reforming," he said, chest-fallen.

"Yes, well, it was bound to happen, wasn't it?" Hermione replied dully. "At least we can hope they'll muck up badly and, with Dumbledore's permission, we'll have to kick them out. I highly doubt they'll work efficiently or the way we want them to – they're just in it to ruin it for us."

"I just hope they don't ruin it too much," Harry murmured. "If they do, then I'll just have another reason to kill Malfoy because I swear I will if he does!"

Hermione looked at Harry warningly as a happy sigh sounded behind them and signalled the arrival of Ginny, who enthusiastically took the seat next to Harry. "Well, all the Ravenclaw DA members are excited about Wednesday," she said with a grin. "I was just over with Luna and thought I'd check that they were all going to be at the meeting. Cho tried to convince that Marietta friend of hers to rejoin but she immediately declined, thankfully. Cho's going to be there, though."

Harry nodded absently and looked down at his plate, honestly not caring if Cho turned up or not just as Dean, Seamus and Neville took seats across from them. Harry distantly heard Ginny mutter something under her breath as they did so and watched curiously as she reached over and grabbed the unbuttered dinner roll from his plate. Looking at her, she grinned and cheekily took a bite in front of him before screwing up her nose and pulling the dish of butter towards her.

"Have any of you seen Parvati?" Seamus asked, looking around wildly.

"Her and Lavender are over with Padma at the Ravenclaw table," Ginny said absently, buttering the roll. "Most likely talking about boys and Divination as usual. They kept me up most of last night with their gossiping travelling through their floorboards to my dormitory. I'll never understand how Hermione can sleep through it!"

Seamus gave a nervous sort of laugh and let his eyes travel straight to the Ravenclaw where Parvati sat talking to her twin sister and Lavender. His eyes didn't move for the rest of lunch.

Harry, ignoring the others amused comments about Seamus's obvious infatuation with Parvati, looked at Ginny. "So, Ginny, about the DA, do you want to –" The sound of someone clearing their voice behind him interjected and he looked around to find Professor McGonagall standing directly behind them.

"Potter, I am pleased to finally tell you that I have decided to make you Gryffindor Quidditch Captain if you are willing to accept?" she said.

Harry looked at her, both surprised and pleased, before nodding numbly.

"Wonderful," McGonagall said with a very small smile. "Here is your badge and, as you should already know, Chaser try-outs are on Friday at five o'clock." She turned to Hermione. "Miss Granger, as a senior prefect I expect you to supervise."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Professor."

Professor McGonagall's thin lips formed another tiny smile and she handed Harry his badge: A scarlet background with a gold lion and broomstick imprinted with a scarlet "C" for Captain in the centre. The professor headed away as Harry took it from her with a small "Thank-you", a smile spreading happily across his face as he looked down at it with Ron thumping him on the back in congratulations.

Friday morning dawned with a smile for Harry. He was highly looking forward to that evening when he would be conducting the Quidditch try-outs. He had organised the current Gryffindor Quidditch players to be there and had pinned reminder notes on the message board in the common room.

At five o'clock, Harry, along with his scarlet and gold-clad team headed down to the Quidditch stadium to find a dozen Gryffindor students from different years standing in the shadows of the stands with broomsticks held anxiously in their hands. Harry beamed around at their nervous faces until his eyes landed on Ginny who looked the calmest of the group.

Harry gestured them to follow him and led the way through to the change rooms, where he instructed them to sit down.

"OK, when we get out onto the field, our current players – that is, Ron Weasley as Keeper, Katie Bell as one of our Chasers, Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper are our Beaters and me, Seeker – will get in the air. Then, two at a time I'll call you up into the game and we'll play like it's a regular team practice match. Katie will pass around the Quaffle and I expect you, if you can, to attempt to score with Ron defending your shots."

It sounded quite simple, but when they headed out onto the field Harry found many of the students trying-out were either too nervous to fly properly, they naturally couldn't or they hadn't listened to his instructions correctly.

Aaron Fehling and Joanna Fitzpatrick went first. Joanna, a blonde third-year, clutched her broom too tightly and seemed to have an awful lot of trouble keeping on course. Aaron, who reminded Harry of a younger and slightly thinner Neville Longbottom, fell dramatically to the ground after rising only two metres and ran away looking very embarrassed and upset. Thankfully, the next two, Lavinia Jones and Kayla McKenzie were much more confident and better on a broom, though they each seemed to lack speed and catching ability. A young and quite pretty girl, Lara Sursok, who Harry had heard quite a lot about, went next with a boy named Jarod Suffield, who ran away to throw up before he even mounted his broom. Lara went alone to show off her graceful Chasing ability alone and, in Harry's mind, got a tick next to her name.

Finally, after two other pairs, one of which scored question marks next to their name, it was Ginny and a surly-looking boy with dark blonde hair called Benjamin Ferrara's turn to try.

Harry watched carefully as Ginny flew beautifully across the stadium, becoming mesmerised by the way that her golden red hair floated angelically behind her as she soared. He watched steadily as she caught the Quaffle easily in her right hand when Katie threw it to her. She confidently headed straight towards Ron at goals, dodging a Bludger Andrew Kirke had hit her way. Harry's heart pounded strangely in his chest as she raised the hand holding the scarlet ball and made to throw it, tricking Ron at the very last minute and scored through the far left hoop as he dived right.

Ginny did a little loop around the hoop, a huge smile on her face and Harry looked around to see Benjamin arguing with Jack Sloper about hitting a Bludger towards him when he had least expected it. Harry shrugged to himself and gestured his players to the ground where the students that had tried-out were standing patiently.

"Alright, well, you all did really well in my opinion," Harry said once they'd all joined him. "I've decided Lara and Ginny will fill the Chaser positions and Mark and Wayne will make good reserves. Other than that, thanks for trying and I'm sorry I couldn't accept you. If you're ready, you can all go to dinner."

Harry watched as everyone but Ginny and himself made their way off the pitch and towards the castle. Once out of sight, Harry turned to Ginny, taking in the huge smile on her face.

"Thank-you so much, Harry!" she cried happily, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug through her excitement. "I swear I wanted this so badly you wouldn't believe! You're a brilliant captain, Harry! Oh Merlin, I could kiss you right now – Oh, what the hell –!"

What happened next caused Harry so much shock he couldn't move or react: She kissed him. She just leant up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his in a quick, instantaneously heart-stopping kiss.

Harry blinked, looking at her bewilderedly as she let go of him and gave a tiny, slightly choked giggle, her cheeks painted pink. She absently bit her lower lip, looking into his shining eyes, a smile curving her mouth's edges. She backed away a couple of steps, still looking at him.

"Thank-you," she said again, and with that she turned, leaving Harry staring at her retreating back with that same amazed expression, his heart beating fast in his chest and confusion building up to engulf his brain.


End file.
